1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cleaning composition for use in microelectronics manufacturing, and more particularly to a non-corrosive cleaning composition that removes plasma etching by-products formed on wafer substrates after plasma etching of metal or metal oxide layers deposited on substrates.
2. Brief Description of Art
In the manufacture of microcircuits, positive photoresists are used as an intermediate mask to transfer an original mask pattern of a reticle onto wafer substrates by means of a series of photolithography and plasma etching steps. One of the final steps in the microcircuit manufacturing is removal of the patterned photoresist films from the substrates. In general, this step is affected by two methods. One method involves a wet stripping process in which the photoresist-covered substrates are brought into contact with a photoresist stripper solution that consists primarily of an organic solvent and an amine. However, wet photoresist stripper solutions cannot remove photoresist films effectively and completely in all cases, especially if they are exposed to UV irradiation and plasma treatments during the fabrication processes. Some photoresist films are highly crosslinked by such high energy treatments and become more difficult to dissolve in the stripper solution. In addition, the chemicals used in some conventional wet stripping solutions are ineffective in removing inorganic residues formed by the earlier step of plasma etching of metal or metal oxide layers with halogen-containing gases.
An alternative method of removing a photoresist film involves exposing a photoresist-coated wafer to an oxygen plasma to burn the resist film from substrate in a process known as oxygen plasma ashing. Recently, oxygen plasma ashing has become more popular in the microcircuit manufacturing process because it is carried out in a vacuum chamber and, hence, is expected to be less susceptible to airborne particulate or metallic contamination. However, oxygen plasma ashing is also not fully effective in removing the plasma etching residues noted above. Instead, removal of these plasma etching residues is accomplished by exposing them to certain alkaline solutions. Several commercial products are now available to clean the plasma etching residues left by plasma etching followed by oxygen ashing. For example, EKC 265, obtained from EKC Technology, Inc., is a cleaning solution composed of water, alkanolamine, catechol and hydroxylamine. Such a composition is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,771 by Wai M. Lee. ACT 935, obtained from Ashland Chemical, is another cleaning solution composed of water, alkanolamine and catechol. In both cases, catechol is used as a corrosion inhibitor. A post-strip rinse, R-10, obtained from Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, is also composed of water, alkanolamine and a sugar alcohol, wherein the sugar alcohol acts as a corrosion inhibitor.
In these commercial products, a combination of water and alkanolamine will not only dissolve the plasma etching residues, and will also attack metallic layers patternwise deposited on the substrate. The addition of a corrosion inhibitor is thus necessary in those products to prevent the unwanted attack on the metallic layers in the substrate. However, since these products have high pHs (above 11), they may attack certain corrosion-sensitive metal layers in the wafer substrate regardless of the presence of a corrosion inhibitor. Particularly, metal layers such as aluminum or its alloys (e.g., Al--Cu--Si), titanium nitride, titanium tungsten and the like are especially corrosion-sensitive. Therefore, the addition of a suitable corrosion inhibitor in a suitable amount is essential to prevent corrosion of the substrate metal layers without inhibiting the plasma etching residue removal. It is, however, difficult to balance the two desired results: (1) effective plasma etching residue removal and (2) effective corrosion inhibition. This dilemma is mainly due to the fact that the chemical compositions of the plasma etching residues are in general similar to those of the metal layers in the substrate. The alkanolamines included in the prior art cleaning compositions may thus randomly attack both the plasma etching residues and the substrate metal layers. Moreover, if a post-cleaner rinse such as isopropyl alcohol is not used, the corrosion may be very severe. In addition, it should be noted that some types of corrosion inhibitors tend to retard plasm etching residue removal. Accordingly, to date there has not been developed a perfect cleaning composition for removing plasma etching residues without metal layer corrosion. There has always been a tradeoff between plasma etching residue removal and substrate metal layer corrosion inhibition.
Several other patents in the photoresist stripper/cleaner application field exist as follows, although none of them disclose the use of the composition of the present invention.
Japanese Patent Application No. 7-028254 assigned to Kanto Kagaku discloses a non-corrosive photoresist removal liquid comprising a sugar alcohol, an alcohol amine, water, and a quaternary ammonium hydroxide.
PCT Published Patent Application No. WO 88-05813 teaches a positive or negative photoresist stripper containing butyrolactone or caprolactone, quaternary ammonium hydroxide compound, and optionally a nonionic surfactant.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,661 to Muraoka et al. discloses a surface treating agent comprising an aqueous solution of 0.01 to 20% trialkyl(hydroxy-alkyl)ammonium hydroxide. This agent is useful in removing organic and inorganic contaminants deposited on the surfaces of semiconductor products.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,571 to Miyashita et al. teaches printed circuit board photoresist stripper composition containing a solvent (e.g., water, alcohols, ethers, ketones, etc.), an alkaline compound dissolved in the solvent, including quaternary ammonium hydroxide, and a borohydride compound dissolved in the solvent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,103 to Dean et al. teaches a positive photoresist stripping composition containing the combination of: (A) N-alkyl-2-pyrrolidone; (B) 1,2-propanediol; and (C) tetraalkylammonium hydroxide.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,607 to Ward et al. teaches positive and negative photoresist stripping composition containing tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol, a polyhydric alcohol (e.g., ethylene glycol or propylene glycol), the reaction product of furfuryl alcohol and an alkylene oxide, a water-soluble (Bronstead) base type hydroxide compound (e.g., alkali metal hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide and tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide), and water. optionally, the composition may also contain up to 1% of a nonionic surfactant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,816 to Aoyama et al. discloses a composition for removing chlorine remaining on the surface of an aluminum line pattern substrate after dry etching, comprising an aqueous solution containing 0.01 to 15% by weight of a quaternary ammonium hydroxide, such as trimethyl(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium hydroxide, and 0.1 to 20% by weight of sugar or sugar alcohol, such as xylitol, mannose, glucose, and the like.
In the above-mentioned examples of art of the photoresist stripping and cleaning technology, a mixture of water and organic amines, especially alkanolamines, are used as essential ingredients of the cleaning compositions. These essential ingredients dissolve metal or metal oxide type of plasma etching residues due to the reaction of the residues with hydroxide ion that is formed by the reaction of amines with water. To inhibit the corrosion of substrate metals patternwise deposited on wafers, corrosion inhibitors such as catechol, sugar alcohols, and other reducing or chelating compounds have been added to the mixtures of water and amines. However, none of the prior art teaches the use of a mixture of water and quaternary ammonium hydroxides in combination with selected corrosion inhibitors that can effectively prevent the corrosion of substrate metal layers without retarding the plasma etching residue removal.